Exempt colleges from GST: VIT founder
Stating that educational institutions were only giving to the govt, by way of GST, and not getting much in return, he said that VIT alone spent 400 crore on GST a year. "A GST of 18% is levied for the construction of buildings and 28% to install ACs," he said during VIT Chennai's 15th year celebrations and Crystal Connexions, an alumni meet '25, on the institute's Chennai campus.
He noted that while the union govt allocated only 2.5% of its budget towards education this year, the state govt allocated 21%.
"While India has become the fourth-largest economy surpassing Japan, its GDP per capita is still 12.5 times less than that of Japan. Education is the only way to reduce this disparity. Hence, the govt should spend more on education, especially higher education," Viswanathan said.
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Actor and Rajya Sabha member Kamal Haasan, who was the chief guest, said: "While our forefathers had the courage to fight for the nation's freedom, today's youth must develop the courage to embrace failures and learn from them.
We live in a country where failure in exams can end a life. That's not education, that is cruelty. In 2025, let us learn to become independent to dream without fear."
VIT vice-president G V Selvam recalled how the institute grew from 640 students and 42 faculty in 2010 to over 22,000 students and 803 faculty today. "When we started in 2010, the place did not even have a proper landmark. Fifteen years later, we have become the landmark," he said, thanking the alumni for placing their trust in the institution and contributing to its growth.
At the event, five successful alumni were awarded in the categories of academic and research; corporate career; entrepreneurship; social development; and young achiever.
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